Population living in slums in North America
North America: Population living in slums was 0.2% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Population living in slums in North America, 2000–2022
Source: Urban Indicators Database, UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). Measured in % of urban population.
Analysis
North America recorded 0.2% for population living in slums in 2022. That is the lowest value across all 12 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 8.1% on the previous year and down 14.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, population living in slums in North America peaked at 0.3% in 2016 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 2022.
That places North America 32nd out of 33 groups with data for 2022, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 12 years of available data.
Population living in slums in North America, year by year
| Year | % of urban population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 0.2% | — |
| 2002 | 0.2% | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 0.2% | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 0.2% | +2.4% |
| 2008 | 0.2% | +7.1% |
| 2010 | 0.2% | +2.3% |
| 2012 | 0.2% | +2.3% |
| 2014 | 0.2% | +4.4% |
| 2016 | 0.3% | +2.2% |
| 2018 | 0.2% | -13.4% |
| 2020 | 0.2% | +0.7% |
| 2022 | 0.2% | -8.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 5 |
| 2010s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 5 |
| 2020s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 2 |
Countries ranked near North America
More poverty & inequality data for North America
- Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) 0.9% (2024)
- Poverty gap at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) 0.7% (2024)
- Poverty headcount ratio at $4.20 a day (2021 PPP) 1.1% (2024)
- Poverty headcount ratio at $8.30 a day (2021 PPP) 1.7% (2024)
- Prosperity gap 1.2 average shortfall from a prosperity standard of $28/day (2024)
- Poverty gap at $4.20 a day (2021 PPP) 0.8% (2024)
- Poverty headcount ratio at societal poverty line 19.3% (2024)
- Poverty gap at $8.30 a day (2021 PPP) 1.1% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is population living in slums in North America?
- Population living in slums in North America was 0.2% in 2022, according to Urban Indicators Database, UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).
- What is the highest population living in slums recorded in North America?
- The highest recorded value was 0.3% in 2016.
- What is the lowest population living in slums recorded in North America?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 2022.
- How does North America rank for population living in slums?
- North America ranks 32nd out of 33 groups with data for 2022.
- Is population living in slums rising or falling in North America?
- Over the last ten years it is down 14.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this North America data come from?
- The figures come from Urban Indicators Database, UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), published as part of Population living in slums (% of urban population). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Population living in slums is the proportion of the urban population living in slum households. A slum household is defined as a group of individuals living under the same roof lacking one or more of the following conditions: access to improved water, access to improved sanitation, sufficient living area, housing durability, and security of tenure, as adopted in the Millennium Development Goal Target 7.D. The successor, the Sustainable Development Goal 11.1.1, considers inadequate housing (housing affordability) to complement the above definition of slums/informal settlements.